The Samsung Galaxy S5 is just around the corner and there was a huge build up to the release of the handset with a lot of rumours going around about what it would bring to the market. The phone is now official but is it really an upgrade and if so how much of one? So we thought we would check out the handset against the Samsung Galaxy S4.
At the moment the Samsung Galaxy S5 is not out on the shelf so we can only do a specification comparison. So this will have to do until April when the device arrives on our shelves.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 comes in at 130 grams and is 70x137x7.9mm. It offers a more rectangular design than the Samsung Galaxy S3 and is comfortable in the hands. The Samsung Galaxy S5 will be slightly bigger and is 145 grams, it measures 73x142x8.1mm. The design of it is more akin to that of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 than the Samsung Galaxy S4. While it is heavier and bigger if you happen to be used to the design of the Samsung Galaxy S4 then you won’t notice any huge difference.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 has a plastic design along with metal effect trim on the sides and carbon fibre effect finish on the back and front of the body. The only exception being the Samsung Galaxy S4 Black Edition, this has the faux leather back like the Samsung Galaxy Note 3.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 has the dimpled soft touch plastic on the back and is better for holding. Even so the device is made from plastic but it does look slicker.
The display of the Samsung Galaxy S4 comes in at 5 inches with bezels of 2 to 3mm. The Samsung Galaxy S5 display comes in at 5.1 inches and the bezels remain the same. Both displays have Gorilla Glass 3 protection.
Both devices offer a display of 1920 x 1080p HD, however the display of the Samsung Galaxy S5 is larger and this means that the ppi is down. The Samsung Galaxy S5 comes in at 432ppi while the S4 has 441ppi. This difference is not all that noticeable and Samsung have been able to boost the display size while at the same time not losing clarity.
Both displays are Super AMOLED and there are advantages over LCD. Typically LCD displays look sharper for text but as the display is high resolution you cannot tell any difference.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 makes use of the diamond pattern for the pixels so the red and blue are larger and diamond shaped than the green pixels, which does help with clarity.
In the UK the Samsung Galaxy S4 has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor at 1.9GHz. The Samsung Galaxy S5 comes with the 2.5GHz Snapdragon 801 which offers faster benchmark scores. These came out at 1.29 times faster than the Samsung Galaxy S4.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 has the Qualcomm Adreno 320 GPU so you can play any game in the PlayStore without issue. The Samsung Galaxy S5 has the faster Adreno 330 GPU so it is almost a 64% improvement for gaming.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 was among the first phone to have 2GB of RAM as standard, but many exceed this amount. The Samsung Galaxy S5 has stuck with the 2GB of RAM.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 offers a 13MP camera on the back which can capture photos in 4,128 x 3,069 resolution and record in full HD at 30fpr. The Samsung Galaxy S5 has the 0.28 inch sensor with larger 1,241um pixels which should mean less noise. The camera of the S5 is ISOCELL sensor tech and this stops light leaking in. it can take photos at 4,640 x 3,480 and record at 60fps. It can record ultra HD 4k at 30 fps at 3,840 x 2,160.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 has the fingerprint sensor in the home button and you can authorise payments by PayPal with it or lock down folders and lock the handset. The Samsung Galaxy S4 has the screen based security with password, pattern or pin.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 comes with fitness apps such as pairing for heart rate monitors, pedometers and it has a heart rate sensor built in. It is dust and water proof.
The Samsung Galaxy Gear doesn’t have specific fitness features but it is compatible with the wearable tech including Galaxy Gear, Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo and Gear Fit smart band. All these also work with the Samsung Galaxy S5.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 arrived with Jelly Bean 4.2 and has since been updated to 4.3. It is thought that KitKat 4.4 will be heading its way soon. The Samsung Galaxy S5 will have KitKat 4.4.2 when it arrives.
One of the biggest chances between the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the Samsung Galaxy S5 is TouchWiz. The icons have a pastel look and are no longer 3D effect. The settings menu has a facelift with icons and not lists.
Both devices have support for 2G,3G and 4G LTE but the Samsung Galaxy S5 has support for the LTE category 4 and LTE Advanced modes.
On the Samsung Galaxy S5 there is the micro USB3 port and not the micro port of the Samsung Galaxy S5. The S4 has micro SIM card support and the Samsung Galaxy S5 has nano SIM card support.
